There is an adage that seems appropriate for today’s rant:
“Silence is the virtue of those who are not wise.”
Another way to put it this:
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear to be stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Either or both of those adages should apply to LeBron James today. Earlier this week in a trailer for his TV show, The Shop, James questioned how he might feel about returning to the US if he were in a situation like the one Brittney Griner is in right now in a Russian jail. Here is what James had to say:
“Over 110 days, now how could she feel like America has her back? I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even want to go back to America?’”
Really…?
Let me just say that those words were not universally taken well by a large segment of the population and LeBron James took to Twitter about a day after that comment went public to “clarify” what he meant:
“My comments on ‘The Shop’ regarding Brittney Griner wasn’t knocking our beautiful country. I was simply saying how she’s probably feeling emotionally along with so many other emotions, thoughts, etc inside that cage she’s been in for over 100+ days! Long story short #BringHerHome.”
Earlier this week, I said that I did not know enough about the circumstances leading up to Griner’s arrest and charges to determine if she should be a “priority case” for US diplomatic efforts to secure her release. Since taking that position, I have not come across any additional information to make me change my stance. If Brittney Griner is innocent and being held hostage, then the US should do whatever it can to secure her release; if that is not the case then the country’s diplomatic efforts to free her might not be front and center at the moment.
LeBron James surely changed the tone of his remarks over a short period of time even though he also had no new information regarding how Brittney Griner came to be in her circumstances. And that “reversal of field” tells me two things about LeBron James and his episodic “pronouncements”.
First, not all his “pronouncements” are representative of his core beliefs. After all, it took only a bit of “blowback” from folks who heard about his original statement here for a stunning reversal. One of the two positions taken here is not one of his core beliefs; I have no idea which one is genuine – – if indeed either one is genuine. As I have declared here many times, I do not read minds, so LeBron James’ core values and beliefs are not open to me.
The second thing this “reversal of field” tells me about LeBron James requires a bit more explanation.
- Perhaps the time has come for people to ignore what LeBron James says he thinks about subjects other than subjects he clearly knows something about.
Please do not take that to mean that LeBron James’ free expression should be curtailed in any way. He is – as he ought to be – free and clear to express his thoughts on anything. What I am saying is that maybe people should listen to what he says and then decide if he is someone whose commentary is worthy of parsing and analysis. And when that decision comes out in the negative, maybe everyone should let it rest and fester in the marketplace of ideas.
Moreover, I am not suggesting that LeBron James “stay in his lane” so to speak. What I mean here is that there are issues about which James’ opinions are simply no more important than my opinions on crocheting – – and the only thing I know about crocheting is that it involves yarn. If I opine on anything related to crocheting, you should ignore me because I know so little about the subject that it makes no sense for you to try to “educate me” or to reprove me. I would not be worth the time and energy in that case. I submit that was – and remains – the case with LeBron James depth of insight into Brittney Griner’s circumstance.
Yes, his second “position” makes sense; she is a human being who is in a very precarious situation; she could face a 10-year prison sentence in a Russian jail. It is natural to feel compassion for another person in that situation and to align oneself with those who hope to “#BringHerHome”. But there is no content to that second position that makes the original expression meaningful.
Staying with basketball – obliquely – I read a report that the New Orleans Pelicans have offered Zion Williamson a 5-year “rookie max” contract worth $231M guaranteed. Zion Williamson is a great player and someone who can easily be a “face of the franchise”. However, he missed all of the 2021/22 season; he missed 21 games in the 2020/21 season, and he missed 48 games in the 2019/20 season due to injuries. [Aside: Recall that in his one year at Duke, he also missed significant time due to injury.] The Pelicans are taking a leap of faith here that Williamson will be able to take the floor for a much larger percentage of their games in the next 5 years as compared to the last 3 years. In the last three seasons, Williamson has played in 85 games and has not played in 141 games; that means he was only on the floor 38% of the time.
Finally, I will close today with an observation by someone who is familiar with conditions in Russian prisons, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:
“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes … we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions – especially selfish ones.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………